Uncontacted Amazonian Tribe photographed ... OMG what must they have thought of the airplane

[Twiglett]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7427417.stm#cotton

there is something wrong in all this .. and yet it is so intriguing too

the pictures

I saw this this morning and thought it was brilliant.

shame though that they are 'endangered' so to speak.

what a way to live.

No mumsnet. How ghastly.

That's amazing. Makes my thread on satnavs somewhat defunct.

They must have been terrified by the plane.

Great. so now they are in every newspaper around the world.

So bang go their efforts to keep themselves to themselves.

I do not believe the claims that they were photographed to protect them.. to prove to authorities that they existed.

More likely the photographer thought, "wicked I'm going to make a mint out of these poor savages who are so shit scared of outsiders that they are aiming their arrows at this plane." Shame they weren't rocket launchers.

I bet there are film crews rubbing their hands with glee and packing their bags as we speak.

Why can't these people just be left alone, which is qite obviously what they want.

ah but you cannot say that because they are not in contact with the outside world, so it could be argued that it is presumptious to assume that they want to be left alone when it is a position of ignorance .. potentially there is a patronisation there the kind of 'oh how sweet' civilised world response

I think it's the arrows pointing at the photographer that give it away.

Kind of reeks of "fuck right off"

Well, does to me anyway

or it reeks of 'what the fuck is that? big monster'

moot point - the decision has been made for them .. they are already aware that there is something that will change their cultural beliefs and add new superstition .. even if left alone it will have repurcusssions

If they didn't know what the plane was then they aren't really saying "fuck right off" as they may assume the plane is going to hurt them.

If they have no idea about other civilisations then you can't say whether they would want to know or not. Maybe they would love to be a part of society as a whole.

Or maybe they just want to be left in peace. If they wanted to be part of "society as a whole", I am sure that they would have made efforts to make their way towards other settlements.

Often isolated tribes keep themselves hidden precisely because they have heard stories about outsiders and the trouble they bring.

The article said red body paint suggests agression. So, they are either shit scared of the plane, or warning the outsiders away.

Either way, I find the photographs very unsettling. Look at the body language of the tribespeople - they are clearly distressed.

But I agree with Twiglett, whatever happens, it will have repercussions. Anyway, I very much doubt they will be in the same place for much longer.

Message withdrawn

bidabump

bidabump

I wouldn't go near them - who knows what they have on the ends of their arrows.

They won't even have known WTF that thing was flying overhead making that horrible noise - I just hope a plane isn't sent to gas them before some brave bugger goes in on foot and captures them

It reminds me of a backpacking trip to Papua New Guinea 5 yrs ago. Before going to the Highlands read a biography of the Leahy brothers (who were part of the gold boom)- they landed in an airplane in the 1930's and foistered themselves on a society in which the wheel hadn't even been invented! I think you can argue either way whether their influence was a good or bad thing......

I think given the choice of living a precarious existence, hand to mouth, no medical care etc I might just welcome shops and hospitals and cookers.

probably a hoax [cynical]